While exploring the different emotions that we can encounter in the inquiry learning focus ‘Feelings’, these Level One students created their own personal version of Edvard Munch’s Scream. The aim of the inquiry was for the children to understanding their own feelings and the feelings of others, and how this contributes to their own health and well being.

During the inquiry the students visited the National Gallery of Victoria with their class teacher. This included a tour which focused on how artwork can provoke different feelings.

In the art room, the students explored mark making with paint in their Artist diary. The art elements line and colour were introduced and a discussion evolved around how Munch used both of these elements in his own work to suggest different feelings. Some words that were popular in the discussion included slow, swirly, soft, straight, dark, strange and long.

Students were encouraged to transfer some of the marks they explored to an A2 piece of paper using paint. One of the challenges the children faced was to ensure the marks they made travelled from one side of the page to the other. They achieved this using various sized brushes and accepting that it was ok to paint off the page and onto the table!

Overlaying the paint work is a digital photo taken of the student.  During the photo shoot, the child needed to imagine a spider crawling across their shoulder. This created a range of screams and facial expressions. The photo was then manipulated with oil pastels using the lines explored in the artist diaries. It was not important whether the student was still able to be identified or not in his or her artwork. More so, that the artwork reflected how they were ‘feeling’.

Franca Petrolo

Visual Arts

Overnewton Anglican Community College

Copyright 2009 Zart Art & Zart Education Service